The Westbrook fire chief and deputy fire chief are suing the city, alleging the mayor retaliated against them for raising legal and safety concerns in their department.
The lawsuit details months of tension beginning last year between Mayor Mike Sanphy and the top two officials in the Westbrook Fire Department. - PUB DATE: 5/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald
A three-alarm warehouse fire in Houston's East End scorched at least one nearby home and led to the hospitalization of a firefighter.
Firefighters were called out to a warehouse fire on North Drennan Street near Navigation Boulevard shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, according to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña. - PUB DATE: 5/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
Growing eruptions in the Big Island's Leilani Estates on Sunday night prompted officials to issue an emergency alert urging any residents remaining in the lava-ravaged subdivision to "go now" and stoking fears that the toll of homes claimed by lava — at 26 so far — would undoubtedly grow. The alert went out to smartphones across the Big Island at 7 p. - PUB DATE: 5/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHNL/KGMB-TV Hawaii News Now
It was just before Christmas, when Battalion Chief Chris Burger responded to a call of an unresponsive infant.
With the sort of muscle memory training only thousands of hours of training can build, he went to the home and did his job. He was the helper — cool under pressure, someone you can lean on — that everyone expects a firefighter to be. - PUB DATE: 5/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Panama City News Herald
The cost of the city’s legal bills for the ongoing firefighters’ contract dispute increased $110,000 during a recent three-month period and now exceeds $634,000.
City Comptroller James E. Mills on Friday confirmed that the law firm has billed $634,740.56 through January for costs associated with the nearly four-year labor dispute with the Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 191. - PUB DATE: 5/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times
A Las Vegas Fire Department captain paralyzed in an on-duty crash almost 15 years ago has died.
Thelonious “Theo” Adams, a captain and 13-year veteran of the department, was paralyzed from the neck down after a fire engine responding to reports of smoke in an apartment rolled over on Halloween night in 2003. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal
A veteran Harris County firefighter is suing his former department, claiming that his bosses fired him for missing a holiday shift as retaliation for whistleblowing on illegal behavior by the department’s leadership.
The state district court lawsuit alleges that Jeramie Casiano, a lieutenant in the Harris County Emergency Services District 48’s fire department, first warned in January 2017 of “highly concerning and illegal practices,” including the misuse of government property and services by the ESD’s leadership. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
A town meeting measure that would change the hiring practice for future chiefs and deputy chiefs in the fire department is under fire by the local union. Hull Firefighters Local 1657 is urging voters to reject proposals at town meeting, the second of which eliminates the requirement that firefighters be certified paramedics. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Quincy Patriot Ledger
The fire service is mourning the loss of Billy Leach Jr., who brought vehicle rescue training on big rigs to a whole new level.
Leach reportedly passed away while staying in an Oklahoma hotel where he was teaching a "Big Rig Rescue" program.
"It is with great sadness that we may now report that Squad Member and Special Team Member Billy Leach Jr. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
Salinas Fire Department paramedics and management are under investigation following Monterey County Emergency Medical Services Agency allegations that they failed to complete required paramedic skills testing and accreditation, then falsified documentation to indicate they had done so.
Salinas City Manager Ray Corpuz confirmed Wednesday the county EMS agency allegations are under investigation, which is being conducted by he and other city administrators, and a state Emergency Medical Services Authority official also confirmed an investigation is under way. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Monterey County Herald
After years of declining membership, the Owls Head Fire Department has gotten to a point where if an emergency call goes out, sometimes it’s only the fire chief who shows up.
The department has always posted signs around town to try and recruit new volunteers, but nothing has come of them, Owls Head Fire Chief Frank Ross said. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily News
An Alameda County judge has ruled Oakland officials had a “mandatory duty” to ensure safety at the doomed Ghost Ship warehouse, leaving the city potentially liable for a fire where 36 people died.
Attorneys for the dozens of victims and their families, as well as reports by this news agency, have detailed numerous visits by police, firefighters and building officials in the years before the deadly Dec. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times
A county fire battalion chief and a captain were the officials who filed a complaint against a fellow captain for what they described as “interfering with operations” and having “no regard for the safety of the personnel on scene” when he fought a fire on West Daughtery Road in April while he was off duty. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News Chief
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and American Military University (AMU) today announced they have expanded their successful partnership for another year.
AMU is one of the largest providers of online higher education offering more than 190 academic programs to students enrolled worldwide. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs
A firefighter died Tuesday after being struck by a ventilation shaft while battling a blaze.
CBC reported that 10-year veteran Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac volunteer firefighter Carmel Moreault, 54, was battling a blaze at a cardboard box plant when the water-filled ventilation shaft fell on him.
Moreault was transported to the hospital, where he later died. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
A Tucson Fire captain was attacked Monday while trying to give aid a patient, according to the Tucson Fire Department.
At about 9:20 a.m., officials were called to the 1500 block of West St. Mary’s Road for a possible fall injury.
As they treated the patient, two bystanders who offered advice were told to leave, according to a TFD news release. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVOA-TV NBC 4 Tucson
Five women, all paramedics, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing their superiors of sexual harassment and alleging that the Chicago Fire Department “directly encourages” the illegal behavior by failing to “discipline, supervise and control” its officers.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously acknowledged a “code of silence” in the Chicago Police Department in the unrelenting furor that followed release of video played around the world of white Police Officer Jason Van Dyke firing 16 shots that killed black teenager Laquan McDonald. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times
One year after being shot twice responding to a call in South Dallas, Dallas Fire-Rescue firefighter and paramedic William An is still recovering. His memories of that day remain hazy, largely pieced together by stories of others who were there.
“I do remember being in the back of the cop car, because he (the officer) was constantly asking me what hurts to keep me conscious and talking and I remember telling him my arm, my leg, I can’t breathe,” said An. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAS-TV NBC 5 Dallas - Fort Worth
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released NFPA 3000TM (PS), Standard for an Active Shooter / Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program to help communities holistically deal with the fast-growing number of mass casualty incidents that continue to occur throughout the world. Serving as the first of its kind, NFPA 3000 provides unified planning, response and recovery guidance, as well as civilian and responder safety considerations. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association
Sheriff Craig Apple is setting up a program to train jail inmates to become volunteer firefighters.
“We are giving them an opportunity to give back to the community they have been polluting,” Apple said of SHIFT – the Sheriff’s Inmate Fire Training Program.
Certified trainers will teach the low level offenders basic fire fighting skills, basic first aid and how to administer CPR and Automated External Defibrillator. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spotlight News
